Self -regulated liquid dispenser and system for maintaining a liquid level in a container of dispensed liquid

ABSTRACT

A self regulated feeder for a footbath for animals may include a hollow container for a source of fluid, an outlet passageway to connect the hollow container with the footbath, an air return passageway to connect the hollow container to ambient air to return air to the hollow container, and a differential valve to restrict the returning air to the hollow container. The fluid may include air, and the fluid may include a liquid having a disinfect agent. The self regulated feeder may include a flush passageway to flush the footbath, and the air return passageway may be connected to a liquid trap container to prevent fluid from the footbath from reaching the hollow container.

PRIORITY

The present invention claims priority under 35 USC section 119 and basedupon a provisional application with a Ser. No. 61/230,818 which wasfiled on Aug. 3, 2009 and another provisional application with a Ser.No. 61/148,356 which was filed on Jan. 29, 2009.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a foot bath for animals, such as dairycows and more particularly to an automated device for dispensing liquidsolution into such footbath so as to maintain the physical depth of theliquid at a predetermined level and so as to maintain the potency of thesolution at the predetermined level regardless of the soiling of thebath by animals from waste generated by the animals as the animals passthrough the bath by compensating for the amount of liquid removed fromthe bath by these animals.

BACKGROUND ART

In a dairy parlor it is common to have the cows exiting the dairy parlorwalk through a foot bath of various sizes. This foot bath would havedisinfectant, medication, or other chemical that is dissolved in water.The common prior art procedure is that there would be the area having asmall pool which contains the water. The dairyman uses a hose to fillthe pool with the water, and then pours the disinfectant chemical liquidand/or powder into the water and mixes these in the pool manually.

Also, there are automatically operated devices that replicate theseactions i.e. clean out the bath by flushing with water to completelyempty the bath, add water, add chemical.

During the course of the cows moving through the foot bath, a certainamount of manure will commonly collect in the foot bath. After a certainnumber of cows have passed through the footbath, then the dairyman willempty the footbath.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,774,909 (Stable) discloses a foot bath for the use inthe treatment of cattle and other livestock. There is a resilient padwhich is covered with a shallow layer of disinfectant fluid. As the cowsteps on the pad, the fluid flows around the foot.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,630,379 (Gerk et al.) discloses what is called an“electrically controlled spraying device for cleaning and treatinganimals”. There are rails around an enclosure and discharge nozzlesmounted to spray a cleaning fluid or a treatment fluid under the animal,and it states that the device is able to clean the hooves of the animal.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,224,224 (Hintz et al.) discloses a foot bathing fixturethat includes a seat supported on a raised pedestal. This isincorporated into a shower enclosure for a person.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,979,536 (Midkiff) discloses a portable a truck tirewashing apparatus. There are two longitudinally-spaced tire rotatingdriveable roller trailer assemblies mounted on a support member and aliquid spraying means for spraying the tires.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,228,554 (Tumminaro) shows a toilet for animalsparticularly adapted for pets such as dogs and cats. There is a userplatform on which the animal stands, and the platform has an uppersurface which is gradually inclined down on shallow angle toward acenter opening of the toilet. A flushing liquid is provided to flow overthe surface to clean the waste material from the upper surface, and abowl is located beneath the upper platform to receive the waste.

U.S. Pat. No. 2,989,965 (Rod) discloses a “foot wear decontaminatingapparatus” for use in the atomic industry. The user steps on a platformimmersed in a fluid, and a high frequency agitator washes off thecontaminating material.

U.S. Pat. No. 2,956,565 (Anderson) discloses therapeutic equipment forremedial bathing and massaging treatment of feet and legs of animals.There is a container filled with granular solids such as soft, cleansand possibly 104 inches long, 42 inches wide and 18 inches high tocontain the granular material. The racing horse, for example, is broughtto stand with all feet in the soft wet bed and is permitted to sink to adepth somewhere between the ankle and knee height. Heat that could beapplied to alleviate the soreness of the animal.

U.S. Pat. No. 853,533 (Byrd) shows a foot bath intended to be occupiedby horses as they drink from the attached water trough. There is a drainto keep the water at the desired depth.

A disadvantage of other manual and automatic systems is that thesesystems are based on a batch-made approach in which a bath is made, isallowed to deteriorate at an increasing rate, and is replaced after adesignated time or number of animals with fresh solution.

SUMMARY

A self regulated feeder for a footbath for animals may include a hollowcontainer for a source of fluid, an outlet passageway to connect thehollow container with the footbath, an air return passageway to connectthe hollow container to ambient air to return air to the hollowcontainer, and a differential valve to restrict the returning air to thehollow container.

The fluid may include air, and the fluid may include a liquid having adisinfecting or other agent.

The self regulated feeder may include a flush passageway to flush thefootbath or other components of the system, and the air returnpassageway may be connected to a liquid trap container to prevent fluidfrom the footbath from reaching the hollow container.

The liquid trap container may be connected to a liquid trap passageway,and the liquid trap passageway may extend into the footbath a seconddistance and the outlet passageway extends into the footbath a firstdistance.

The second distance may be less than the first distance, and thedifferential valve may include a first flow rate in a first directionand a second flow rate in a second direction.

The first flow rate may be faster than the second flow rate, and thehollow container may include a input passageway.

The input passageway may include a shutoff valve, and the outletpassageway may include a shutoff valve.

The fluid passageway may include a shutoff valve, and the foot bath mayreceive fluid from the hollow container periodically in response to thea lower level of the liquid of the footbath.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention may be understood by reference to the followingdescription taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, inwhich, like reference numerals identify like elements, and in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a self regulated liquid feeder of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 illustrates another self regulated liquid feeder of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention includes a self-regulated dispenser of liquidincluding a reservoir tank of a volumetric capacity matched to therequirements of the foot bath as they relate to the size of the bath andto the number of animals passing through the bath and to the number oftimes it is desired for the animals to pass through before refilling thereservoir.

The self-regulated dispenser may include the capability of stopping flowat or near the time when the desired physical level is attained in thefoot bath so as to minimize liquid wastage and may include a facilitysuch as a line flush capability for ensuring that there is no excessivebuildup of fouling material in pipes or passageways of the system thatmay prevent it from functioning in the desired manner.

The self-regulated dispenser may include a component or components thatprevent outside material from entering the reservoir of stored liquid.

The self-regulated dispenser may be fitted with a special valve to allowrapid expulsion of air in the reservoir for rapid filling but only allowvery slow return of air as the reservoir empties over time.

The system may be fitted with shut-off valves and a gauge such as, forexample, a sight gauge, for determining stored liquid level in thereservoir.

FIG. 1 illustrates the self regulated liquid feeder 100 which mayinclude a hollow container 101 which may include a fluid which may beair and/or a liquid, which may be water or which may be water mixed witha disinfectant or other material which is desirable to apply to the feetof animals. The hollow container 101 may include an inlet 133 to allowthe fluid to enter the hollow container 101, and the inlet 133 may beconnected to an input passageway 103 to connect to a source of fluid.The input passageway 103 may include a first shutoff valve 117 tocontrol the flow of the fluid into the hollow container 101 and theinput passageway 103 may be connected to a flush passageway 105 whichmay be connected to a liquid trap container 111 which may be hollow toflush the air return line 113 with the fluid. The flush passageway 105may include a second shutoff valve 119 to control the flow of the fluidthrough the flush passageway 105. The flow of the fluid into the inputpassageway 103 and the flush passageway 105 is controlled by the thirdshutoff valve 131. The hollow container 101 may include a first outlet151 at substantially the bottom of the hollow container 101 to drain theliquid from the hollow container 101 and to input the liquid into theopen container 139. The first outlet 151 may be connected to an outletpassageway 107 which may extend to the interior of the open containerwhich may be a foot bath for animals such as cattle, dairy cows or othertypes of animals and may extend into the interior of the open container139 at a distance ‘a’ from target surface of the liquid filled into theopen container 139. The outlet passageway 107 may include a fourthshutoff valve 155 to control the flow of the liquid within the outletpassageway 107. The hollow container 101 may be mounted on feet 157 orotherwise held above the floor, ground, or other surface.

The hollow container 101 may include a second outlet 153 which may besubstantially at the top of the hollow container 101 and which may beconnected to the air return passageway 109 which may be connected to theliquid trap passageway 113. The air return passageway 109 may allow airto escape the hollow container 101 as the hollow container 101 is beingfilled with fluid. The air return passageway 109 may include adifferential valve 159 to control the air that flows within the airreturn passageway 109. The differential valve 159 provides a first flow(rate) in the direction of the liquid trap container 111 and provides asecond flow (rate) in the direction of the hollow container 101. Thefirst flow rate may be substantially greater than the second flow rateto provide for rapid air release when the hollow container 101 is beingfilled with fluid so that air can flow rapidly out of the hollowcontainer 101 to the liquid trap container 111. The slower second flowrate of the differential valve 159 restricts the flow of fluidespecially air into the hollow container 101 in order to preventexcessive air from causing the fluid level within the hollow container101 to fall too rapidly.

The liquid trap container 111 may include a first inlet 161 to connectto the air return passageway 109 and may include a second inlet 163 toconnect to the flush passageway 105. The liquid trap container 111 mayinclude an outlet 165 to connect to the liquid trap passageway 113 whichmay extend into the interior of the open container 139 and may extend tothe surface of the liquid in the open container.

In operation, to flush the liquid trap 111 and the liquid trappassageway 113, the first shutoff valve 117 may be closed or partlyclosed and the second shutoff valve 119 may be open to allow fluid toflow within the flush passageway 105 and to the liquid trap container111 and to the liquid trap passageway 113 and into the open container139. The fluid flows from the liquid trap container 111 through theliquid trap passageway 113 and into the open container 139 until theliquid trap and the liquid trap passageway have reached a desired stateof cleanness.

In order to fill the hollow container 111 with fluid, the second shutoffvalve 119 may be closed and the first shutoff valve 117 may be openedand the fourth shutoff valve 155 may be closed. Fluid enters the hollowcontainer 101 and forces the air towards the top of the hollow container101. The differential valve 159 allows the air to flow through the airreturn passageway 109 at a second rate through the liquid trap container111, through the liquid trap passageway 113 to the ambient atmosphere atthe second flow rate.

Typically, the hollow container 101 is filled with fluid, and the fourthshutoff valve 155 may be opened in order to allow fluid to flow from thehollow container 101 through the outlet passageway 107 to the opencontainer 139. As the fluid is withdrawn from the hollow container 101,the level of fluid rises in the open container 139 and air is drawn intothe closed container 101 through the passageways 113 and 109 by thenegative pressure developed in the closed container 101. When the levelof liquid in the open container rises to the open end of passageway 113the flow of air through the passageway 113, and the liquid trap, and thepassageway 109, into the open container 101 is blocked by the liquid inthe open container 139. A partial vacuum is then produced at the top ofthe hollow container 101 as a result of the weight of the column ofliquid between the surface of the liquid in the open container 139 andthe surface of the liquid in the closed container 101. This partialvacuum continues to increase and draws the liquid in the open containerupwards through the passageway 113 until the surface of the drawn liquidin passageway 113 is at the same level horizontally as the level ofliquid in the closed container 101. The negative pressure exerted by thecolumn of liquid in the passageway 113 is then the same as the negativepressure exerted by the column of liquid in the closed container 101 andall liquid and air movement stops. The system remains stable at thislevel until the passage of animals through the open container 139, orsome other cause, reduces the level of liquid in the open container 139so that the end of passageway 113 is again exposed to the air. The airwill then bubble upwards through the passageway 113 causing a reductionin the vacuum in the closed space between the surfaces of the liquid inthe closed container 101 and the passageway 113. This will result in therelease of liquid through passageway 107 into the open container 139raising the level in open container 139 so that passageway 113 is againclosed and fluid movement stops. The level of fluid in 139 is thereforeregulated substantially at whatever level the open end of passageway 113is set.

When the open end of passageway 113 is exposed to air by the fallingliquid in container 139 the partial vacuum in the system would causevery rapid induction of air and would result in too much vacuum releaseif the air flow were not restricted by the differential valve 159.

As the animals, for example dairy cows, enter, traverse and leave theopen container 139, fluid within the open container 139 may becontaminated with waste and may be removed from the open container 139as result of the animal splashing. Since the end of the outletpassageway 107 extends further into the interior of the open container139 than the end of the liquid trap passageway 113 the end of the liquidtrap passageway 113 will be exposed to the ambient air before the end ofthe outlet passageway 107 is exposed to the ambient air. When the end ofthe liquid trap passageway and air return line 113 is exposed to theambient air, the differential valve 159 allows the air from the liquidtrap passageway and air return line 113 to enter the hollow container101 at a controlled first rate and the vacuum within the hollowcontainer 101 is reduced which will allow liquid from the hollowcontainer 101 to flow through the outlet passageway 107 to the opencontainer 139. Since the air may be able to flow at a faster rate thanthe liquid can be dispensed to the open container 139, the differentialvalve 159 controls the flow of air at a second rate in order to preventthe elimination or the excessive reduction of the vacuum in the hollowcontainer 101 which could allow an excess of liquid to flow into theopen container 139.

The liquid trap container 111 prevents any contaminated liquid from theopen container 139 from inadvertently entering the hollow container 101through the second outlet 153.

As a consequence, the liquid within the open container 139 is beingperiodically refreshed in response to the dropping fluid level withinthe open container 139 as the animals expel the liquid from the opencontainer 139. If the liquid within the hollow container 101 includesactive ingredients which may include hoof treatment agents, these agentsare periodically added to the open container 139 in response to thedropping fluid level which may increase the effectiveness of the opencontainer 139 being used as a foot bath for animals. This can maintainthe level of the treatment agents at a substantially high level,eliminating the need to drain the liquid from the open container 139 inorder to refresh the treatment agents.

FIG. 2 illustrates another liquid feeder for washing the feet of animalsfor example dairy cows, and the liquid feeder may include a hollowcontainer 201 which may be filled with a fluid such as air or liquidwhich may include treatment agents. The hollow container 202 may includean inlet 207 which may be connected to an air passageway 211 to allowair to be transmitted from the ambient atmosphere to the interior of thehollow container 202 when the fluid level of the open container 213 (afoot bed for animals) drops below the end of the air passageway 211which may be positioned within the interior of the open container 213.The hollow container 202 may also include an outlet 209 which may beconnected to a discharge passageway 203 to conduct fluid within thehollow container 202 to the open container 213. The discharge passageway203 may include a shutoff valve 205 to shut off the flow of fluidthrough the discharge passageway 203. The hollow container 201 mayinclude a fill port 205 to fill the hollow container 201 with fluid andmay include a filter 207 to filter the air within the hollow container201.

In operation, as the dairy cows enter the open container 213, the cowslower the liquid level by splashing the liquid out of the open container213. The cows deposit waste within the open container 213 which lowersthe treatment agent concentration. When the surface of the liquid dropsbelow the end of the air passageway 211 positioned within the interiorof the open container 213, air flows through the hollow container 211and the air allows the liquid to flow in response to the lower liquidlevel of the open container 213 through the discharge passageway 213 andto enter the open container 213. The additional liquid from the hollowcontainer 201 increases the level of the treatment agent and stops theairflow through the hollow container 201 as the liquid level rises abovethe end of the air passageway 211.

A method and apparatus of dispensing liquid into a footbath for animalsat a rate approximately equal to the rate at which liquid is removed bythe animals in small increments such that the physical level of liquidin the bath does not change dramatically so that all animals passingthrough the bath have their feet covered by liquid at a substantiallyconstant depth.

A method and apparatus for maintaining the concentration of activeingredient in a footbath such that it deteriorates at a declining rate.The result of this declining rate when viewed as a graph as shown inFIG. 3 below is an asymptotic curve i.e. although the concentration ofthe active ingredient in the bath continues to decline, the rate ofdecline approaches zero after a relatively short period of timecorresponding to a relatively small number of animals passing throughthe foot bath. At that point the active ingredient in the footbathliquid is being removed and diluted by the passing animals atsubstantially the same rate at which it is being replenished. This is anadvantage of the present invention. A self-regulated dispenser systemthat regulates the fluid level in a footbath without requiring theoperation of any moving parts while the system is working. Once turnedon, the system has no moving parts so there can be no malfunction of anycomponent due to wear, abrasion, etc. The present invention may becontrolled by a negative pressure build-up inside the system capable ofwithholding a tall column of liquid but without periodically releasingthe excessive vacuum which might result in the excessive liquid beingreleased.

A self-regulated dispenser system that regulates the fluid level in afootbath without requiring the operation of any moving parts while thesystem is working. Once turned on, the system has no moving parts sothere may be no malfunction of any component due to wear, abrasion, etc.being controlled by a negative pressure build-up inside the systemcapable of withholding a tall column of liquid but without periodicallyreleasing excessive vacuum which might result in excessive liquid beingreleased.

The following test method is used to assess the rate at which theconcentration of active ingredient in a footbath solution willdeteriorate by the removal of said active ingredient by animalstraversing the bath and by the concurrent dilution of the activeingredient by these animals as they deposit urine and other wastematerial during their passage. This information is required to designthe formula used for preparing footbath solution that is stored inhollow container 101.

Test Method Purpose:

The test is designed to assess the amount of liquid removed from afootbath by dairy cows passing through it and to simultaneously assessthe amount of liquid added in the form of urine and manure as cows passthrough the bath. The purpose of these assessments is to gauge how muchliquid must be added by a liquid replenishment system in order tomaintain the depth of the bath at its starting point and to determinethe required concentration of the new product.

Assumptions:

It is assumed that in all cases animals remove more liquid than theyadd. This assumption is borne out by hundreds of observations on dairiesthroughout the United States in which every single instance bears thisout. It is also widely accepted that footbath levels go down as cowspass through rather than staying level or increasing.

It is also assumed that cows do not add measurable levels of coppersulfate to the bath in urine or manure.

Approach:

The overall approach is to make a footbath with copper sulfate and waterand take a sample of this bath to measure initial concentration ofcopper ion in the water. The bath is aggressively acidified to ensurethat the copper stays in solution throughout the entire procedure. Thena known volume of copper-free water (2 gallons) is added to dilute thebath by a known amount. Another sample is then taken and the newconcentration is measured. Simple arithmetic is used to calculateoriginal volume and concentration using the three known values for firstconcentration, second concentration and added copper-free water (2gallons).

A Hach DR 2000 Spectrophotometer or similar instrument or a coppercolorimeter is used to determine the above concentrations after dilutingthe sample to bring it into a range that the instrument can read.

After the above samples are taken and set aside for measurement, cowsare allowed to pass through the footbath in the normal way. After aknown number of cows have passed (usually the first one or two groups),the above procedure is followed again to take and measure two newsamples, the first before dilution, the second after the standard 2gallon dilution.

Sampling Method

When the bath is ready for samples to be taken the following procedureis used:

First the bath is agitated by walking around and swishing it back andforth with rubber boots on. Then 21 random samples are taken fromthroughout the bath in different places and at different depths andmixed together in a clean plastic container. The samples are taken usingplastic squeeze bottles.

A bottle is inverted into the bath, squeezed, and then released andallowed to suck up a sample of fluid and particulate material from thebath. The resultant sample is then added to the clean container and thesame squeeze bottle is used for all 21 sub-samples. These samples arethoroughly mixed and the squeeze bottle is filled from the resultantmix. This becomes sample number one and is set aside for later analysis.Any remaining mix is returned to the bath.

Then two gallons of water are added and the above sampling procedure isagain followed. Water is added from a used water jug which hadpreviously been purchased at a grocery store. Although this is asomewhat imprecise way to measure 2 gallons, repeat measurements haveshown it to be no more than 0.22% off (about 10 ml) and since this isbeing added to a volume of about 50 gallons or more the % error will notbe more than 0.0045%.

Math Used:

C1=first concentrationC2=second concentrationQ=total quantity of copper sulfate in solution in whole bathV=Initial volume of water in bath in gallonsA=added volume of water in gallons (=2)

The following math is applied:

Q/V=C1

Q/(V+A)=C2 or, substituting known value for A, Q/(V+2)=C2

Therefore:

Q=VC1

and

Q=VC2+2C2

subtracting

0=(VC1−VC2)−2C2 or 0=V(C1−C2)−2C2 or V(C1−C2)=2C2

Therefore:

V=2C2/(C1−C2)

The original volume is therefore calculated by substituting the measuredvalues for concentration before and after dilution for C1 and C2 andsolving for V.

The original quantity of copper sulfate used was Q=VC1. As V and C1 areboth now known, Q is solved.

Finally, having determined Q and V for clean bath and soiled bath it canbe determined how much Q has been removed by the cows one way or another(by splashing and by chemical reaction with hoof keratin) the averageamount removed per cow is determined by subtraction. Also the degree offluid loss is similarly determined. Using the original concentration C2it is determined how much fluid loss would have occurred had there beenno addition by the cows. By subtracting this theoretical number forfluid loss (based on loss of copper) from the measured fluid loss we getthe amount of fluid added by the cows.

FIG. 3 illustrates a graph showing the comparison of a conventionalapparatus being compared with the apparatus and method of the presentinvention.

FIG. 3 illustrates that the concentration 301 of active ingredient fallsoff at an increasing rate with a batch-made footbath. The concentrationrapidly approaches zero as the number of animals passing through thefootbath increases without the bath being drained and replaced withfresh solution.

In contrast, FIG. 3 illustrates the concentration 303 of activeingredient decreases at a progressively lower rate and approaches apredetermined level of concentration 305 which can be adjustable by theuser. Thus, the present invention has a declining rate of deteriorationwhich eventually levels out so that no more deterioration can occur. Theconcentration 303 remains positive regardless of the number of animalswhich passed through the footbath.

While the invention is susceptible to various modifications andalternative forms, specific embodiments thereof have been shown by wayof example in the drawings and are herein described in detail. It shouldbe understood, however, that the description herein of specificembodiments is not intended to limit the invention to the particularforms disclosed.

1) A self regulated feeder for a footbath for animals, comprising: ahollow container for a source of fluid; an outlet passageway to connectthe hollow container with the footbath; an air return passageway toconnect the hollow container to ambient air to return air to the hollowcontainer; a differential valve to restrict the returning air to thehollow container. 2) A self regulated feeder for a footbath for animalsas in claim 1, wherein the fluid includes air. 3) A self regulatedfeeder for a footbath for animals as in claim 1, wherein the fluidincludes a liquid having a treatment agent for animals feet. 4) A selfregulated feeder for a footbath for animals as in claim 1, wherein theself regulated feeder includes a flush passageway to flush the footbathand/or other components of the system. 5) A self regulated feeder for afootbath for animals as in claim 1, wherein the air return passageway isconnected to a liquid trap device to prevent fluid from the footbathfrom reaching the hollow container. 6) A self regulated feeder for afootbath for animals as in claim 5, wherein the liquid trap device isconnected to a liquid trap passageway. 7) A self regulated feeder for afootbath for animals as in claim 6, wherein the liquid trap passagewayextends into the footbath a second distance and the outlet passagewayextends into the footbath a first distance. 8) A self regulated feederfor a footbath for animals as in claim 7, wherein the second distance isless than the first distance. 9) A self regulated feeder for a footbathfor animals as in claim 1, wherein the differential valve includes afirst flow rate in a first direction and a second flow rate in a seconddirection. 10) A self regulated feeder for a footbath for animals as inclaim 9, wherein the first flow rate is faster than the second flowrate. 11) A self regulated feeder for a footbath for animals as in claim1, wherein the hollow container includes an input passageway. 12) A selfregulated feeder for a footbath for animals as in claim 11, wherein theinput passageway includes a shutoff valve. 13) A self regulated feederfor a footbath for animals as in claim 1, wherein the outlet passagewayincludes a shutoff valve. 14) A self regulated feeder for a footbath foranimals as in claim 4, wherein the flush passageway includes a shutoffvalve. 15) A self regulated feeder for a footbath for animals as inclaim 1, wherein the footbath receives fluid from the hollow containerperiodically in response to a lower level of the liquid of the footbath16) A self regulated feeder for a footbath for animals as in claim 15wherein the release of fluid from the hollow container is controlled bya negative pressure build-up inside the container relative toatmospheric pressure. 17) A self regulated feeder for a footbath foranimals as in claim 1, wherein the footbath includes a active ingredientwith a progressively decreasing rate of deterioration.